the basic message #E220
12/11/03
It's that time again- time to start weeding out the candidates for our next President. I've seen a debate or two and have read some of the poll data, but overall, I'm unimpressed. I have a new candidate I'd like to introduce- a man that all of you should know well. His name is Jesus Christ, and although he's shunned public office in the past, perhaps it's time to get him to reconsider.
First of all, the main reason Jesus needs to run for office is the fact that "America is a nation founded on Christian values". I put that descriptive in quotation marks simply because I don't think there is a good foundation for this assertion. More on that later. The second major reason Jesus needs to run is that we badly need him to guide us in how we should live.
Let's consider, for a moment, how President Jesus might spend his first term. I think Jesus would absolutely, positively turn this country upside down during his first month in office. It's likely he might drop-in on some of the fat-cat executives in this country that are making hundreds of millions of dollars each year. I can almost picture this scene: President Jesus is standing in the CEO's office looking down on Times Square. Jesus is asking the executive just what is it that he does that's worth the millions of dollars the exec gets paid each year. As the executive babbles on about debt to equity ratios and such, Jesus looks down on a guy running a jackhammer on the streets below. "Do you work as hard as that guy?", Jesus asks. "Well, I don't work that hard physically, but I do work hard mentally", Mr. CEO offers. Jesus pushes a bit further by asking, "Do you work as hard mentally as say, an air traffic controller?" "Well, no, I probably don't operate at their stress level." "So how can you justify making 100 times as much as they do?", Jesus probes. You can pretty well see where this conversation is heading, so I won't belabor the topic further.
Jesus might spend some time in Washington D.C. and ask our lawmakers a few questions too. Questions like why they spend so much time debating issues like whether the 10 Commandments are held in such high regard when very few of them can even recite half of the 10. He would likely ask why some of them support abortion legislation when that is in clear violation of God's laws. I would imagine Jesus would also question why lobbyists are apparently running this country, although we're supposed to be truly represented by our elected officials.
President Jesus wouldn't forget about visiting the prisons and jails in his new country either. Americans believe that building more and bigger prisons is the key to controlling the unruly in the US, although the research data overwhelmingly tells us that it's cheaper to prevent sending people to jail than footing the bill on keeping them in jail. Our new President would very likely release thousands of people from prison after reviewing the DNA evidence not present during their trial. Our current system places the burden on the inmate to have their case reopened . Unless he has friends outside that believe in him enough to pay the legal fees and research costs, he might well die in prison. Candidate Jesus once said, "Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy." The public says, "Well, a convict might not have committed the specific crime he was sent up for, but I'll guarantee you he did something." If we use this as our standard, we'll need to all turn ourselves in at police headquarters for all of the things we've done that we didn't get caught doing. Speeding, running red lights, illegal parking- you name it, we'll have to get busted for it if that's the rule system we want to abide by.
Commander in Chief Jesus would very likely pull the vast majority of our troops home since he has been quoted as saying, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God." There will be a cry coming out of Washington that will be heard around the world- not due to justice, but due to the billions of dollars of income the war machinery manufacturers are going to see evaporate. Commander Jesus will ask a simple question to the Generals that form his inner circle: "How does this enemy pose an immediate threat to us, and more importantly, what is their motivation for wanting to hurt us?" "But President Jesus", a war hawk General protests, "we must protect ourselves!" But Mr. President simply responds with a very old piece of advice he gave before, "But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven." "But President Jesus", the good General pushes, "we were taught an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth." The President gently corrects the General by reminding him that "You have heard that it was said, "Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also." "Any questions?", the Commander in Chief asks.
We might see a major shift in immigration policies with President Jesus at the helm, since his views on sharing will be quite different from his predecessors. I can almost picture the scene: The immigration advisory board gathers, prepared for a meeting that will last days, if not weeks. President Jesus walks in and says, "Are there people out there willing to risk their lives to come to America?" "Yes sir, thousands each year", they reply. "Does America have the physical space to accommodate them?" "Yes sir, we have plenty of open space." "Are there plenty of jobs in America that we're having trouble getting Americans to do?" "Yes sir, we have tens of thousands of jobs that we have trouble filling that immigrants will gladly take." President Jesus sits down, stares blankly at the wall for about 10 seconds and announces, "Okay, then we'll relax the immigration laws and allow some folks to come to America to live and work. We'll meet a year from now and review the data to see if anything has changed." "But Mr. President", one board member questions, "If we allow immigrants to come over in large numbers, they might start out doing jobs that no American wants, but after a while, they'll work hard enough that they will threaten the good jobs Americans hold." Jesus just smiles and says, "Maybe Americans will appreciate their jobs more in the future and work a little harder to hang onto them."
So what might happen if Jesus Christ himself would really appear this year and prepare to run for President- how would he do in the election? I think he would go down in history as the Presidential candidate that got the least votes. I'm serious, I think he would get blown away by the other candidates. Why? Simple- he would bring equality to this country and work to remove greed and selfishness from our American society. Since that would translate to millions of Americans making less money in the future, his campaign would be fought tooth and nail by the other candidates. Some of you might be thinking right now, "we've already got a good Christian President in office- what more can you ask for?" Consider once again what President Jesus would do in his first 4 years, and then compare that to what George W. has done in the past 3. How much of a correlation can you see? Our new President would probably remind us of some words he spoke 2000 years ago: "And anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me." Friends, it's high time we realize that we can call America a Christian country all we want, but until we really start to live out the will of Jesus Christ, the words are empty.